Exeter's long awaited new railway station at Marsh Barton is running late.... in fact, so late it's years behind schedule with no sign of being built as costs sky rocket, says concerned local county councillor Alan Connett.

Just two years ago, Devon County Council announced “The station is due to be opened in 2016. A half hourly frequency is expected to serve the station from 2018 as part of a major timetable revision…”

But starved of essential Government funding and with costs to build the station rocketing from £4.3million to £13 million, Cllr Connett is concerned the station at Marsh Barton may never be built.

A concept drawing of the proposed Marsh Barton train station in Exeter

"This delay is an example of the way the Government is starving Devon of much needed investment. This station is a vital link in the plans for Exeter's development along with new stations like Newcourt and Cranbrook," said Cllr Connett.

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"The Government refused vital funding for Marsh Barton earlier this year and the next round of grants is not until 2020, so that's at least two more years delay and in the meantime how much higher will the costs go," he added.

Cllr Alan Connett at Newton Abbot train station

A funding bid for the new station at Marsh Barton, near Clapperbrook Lane, was unsuccessful as part of the latest DfT New Stations Fund, but Teignbridge District Council confirmed at a recent planning meeting that the council was still committed to trying to fund the station and that it would still happen.

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Originally, Devon County Council said the station would cost £4.3 million. Then the price was put at £7.4 million and just two months ago the county council revealed the price tag was now around £13 million....but local councils have only £3.9 million in the bank for this station. There's a massive funding gap, which concerns Cllr Connett.

The site of the proposed Marsh Barton train station at Clapperbrook Lane

The new Marsh Barton station is also an important part of the plans by Teignbridge District Council and Exeter City Council for 2,500 new houses around the area of the Devon Hotel.

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To help reduce traffic on the city's already busy roads, the Marsh Barton station is part of the overall plan to encourage people who live on the edge of the city and in neighbouring communities to leave their cars at home and travel by train into Exeter.

Cllr Connett added: "They've just spent £13 million on widening Bridge Road and time will tell if that proves value for money. At the moment, our local councils are around £9 million short of what they need for the Marsh Barton station... and that's going to mean more cars on the roads.

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"However, Teignbridge is still giving planning permission for houses to be built around the Devon Hotel. They've not asked the developers for a penny towards Bridge Road which, if they had, could have freed up money towards building the station.

"Yet again, local communities are forced to take the extra housing but see the promised benefits slipping away. There certainly won't be any trains stopping at Marsh Barton any time soon," said Cllr Connett.

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A Devon County Council spokesman had said: “We are extremely disappointed not to receive funding from the latest round of New Stations Funding and, as a result, it unfortunately means that the proposed scheme for a station at Marsh Barton will now be further delayed.

“In making its decision on funding, the Department for Transport shared our concerns at the substantial rise in costs, but they recognised that the scheme has merit, and we will be taking them up on their offer to review the scheme with them and Network Rail. The scheme will remain on hold until this meeting can be arranged with the DfT.”